Uber has just closed a new funding round that values it at a whopping $51 billion, private equity giant The Carlyle Group has parted ways with the founders of its Vermillion commodity hedge fund, and three bottlers of Coca-Cola products in Europe have entered advanced talks on a merger.

A total of 10 companies — two energy companies, two health-conscious private equity-backed companies, four life sciences companies and two holdovers — are ready to go public during the first week of August, together targeting $1.4 billion before an end-of-summer slowdown.

Bohai Leasing Co. Ltd. has offered to acquire the entirety of Avolon Holdings Ltd. for about $2.55 billion, Avolon confirmed on Friday, after an undisclosed bidder emerged to usurp Bohai’s original bid to buy a 20 percent stake in the private equity-backed airline lessor.

Canadian organic food seller SunOpta Inc. has agreed to buy California-based frozen fruit processor Sunrise Growers for $450 million from a group of investors led by affiliates of Paine & Partners LLC, SunOpta said on Friday.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security moved Thursday to throw out a lawsuit claiming it capriciously denied EB-5 investor visas to more than a dozen U.S. resident aliens, telling a D.C. federal judge there was no real risk the individuals could lose their investment funds.

Berry Plastics Group Inc. on Friday said that it will buy Blackstone-backed Avintiv Inc. for $2.45 billion, creating a global power in plastics packaging and specialty materials and marking another large private equity exit as buyout firms continue to sell assets.

Private equity firm Providence Equity Partners LLC and advertising company WPP PLC will team up to take communications and sports marketing group Chime Communications PLC private in a deal worth £374 million ($584 million), Chime said Friday.

Walnut Creek Mining Co. announced Wednesday it would appeal Optim Energy LLC's recently confirmed Chapter 11 plan and urged a Delaware bankruptcy judge to put the power plant operator's restructuring on hold while it takes its challenge up the legal ladder.

A growing number of life sciences companies are locking down crossover financing rounds shortly before kicking off their initial public offering plans, a move that’s helping to fuel strong listings in the space, experts say.

New York-based investment firm Pine Brook said Thursday that it has agreed to put forth $100 million to help launch Cahill Services LLC, a Texas-based company that rents out equipment to customers in the energy, industrial and municipal industry sectors.

Aided by rising valuations, private equity exits exploded to a record $125 billion in the second quarter, marking an 80 percent jump from the first-quarter exit volume of $70 billion, according to a report Wednesday from industry trade group Private Equity Growth Capital Council.

European private equity firm PAI Partners said Thursday that it has struck a deal to sell luggage handling company Swissport International Ltd. for 2.7 billion Swiss francs ($2.8 billion) to Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. Ltd, which owns China's fourth largest airline.

Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. on Wednesday was denied permission to appeal directly to the Seventh Circuit a bankruptcy court decision that left the casino giant’s parent company vulnerable to creditor lawsuits seeking billions of dollars.

The recent mergers and acquisitions boom in hotel operating and investment companies will continue gaining ground in the face of healthy revenue growth, cheap debt and a capital markets environment that makes going public tough for some smaller companies, experts say.

Siemens AG has held early talks to combine its rail unit with Bombardier Inc.’s train business, while ConAgra Foods Inc.'s sale of its private-label food packaging unit has already attracted interest from other packaged foods companies and private equity firms, and Texas chemical company Huntsman Corp. considers selling a stake in its pigment unit through an initial public offering.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew indicated Tuesday that the Obama administration supports a recent push by Congress to enact legislation that would give Puerto Rico the ability to restructure its debt through the U.S. bankruptcy system, warning that without such an option the island territory's recovery would be more painful.

Expert Analysis

The question for those who have had a hand in the biotech market for a long time is no longer whether the U.K. will deliver on its biotech promise, but when. The money has become more organized, the government has started to take steps to create an affirmative place for action, and the universities are getting better at facilitating the commercialization of research, say attorneys at Sidley Austin LLP.

In the last few years, unitranche financing has been heralded as the new trend in European corporate financing and as an alternative to traditional bank financing. But, when analyzed, does unitranche financing in the European and German markets live up to expectations? ask Dr. Jens Linde and Michael Schuhmacher of P&P Pollath & Partners.

One of the key practice points arising out of recent decisions in Merlin v. Autoinfo, Owen v. Cannon, and Longpath v. Ramtron is that an acquiror should outline in some detail the cost savings expected from a merger. References to anticipated savings embedded in assumptions for projections or in an investment memorandum may not be sufficient, say attorneys with Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

The European Commission recently initiated infringement proceedings against five European Union member states for intra-EU bilateral investment treaties that were allegedly incompatible with EU law. Neither the states concerned nor the potential investors likely to be affected by these proceedings are particularly content about this development, says Tomas Varga at Faegre Baker Daniels.

In a break with past practice, several times in recent months, the Delaware Chancery Court has relied primarily or exclusively on the merger price to determine fair value in appraisal cases. However, we note that the court’s reliance on merger price is still limited, say attorneys with Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

Opportunities for distressed debt funds to buy attractively priced distressed corporate assets have been few and far between in recent terms, but do not expect activity levels to be quiet forever. One market that funds have been eyeing closely is Italy, say attorneys with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

Manipulating gender disparity in the service of hawking a flawed investment product does nothing but trivialize a serious and important issue. The tortured logic in Burford Capital LLC’s recent plug for third-party litigation financing is nothing more than a marketing ploy to boost revenues, says Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.

With a deepening of China’s A-share market, it has become more attractive for private equity firms to sell their interest in a portfolio company to a Chinese listed company, although it has been unclear how, on account of regulatory constraints, this could be achieved for foreign sellers. A recent transaction has thrown interesting light on this issue, say attorneys with Dechert LLP.

Creditors are often tempted to file an involuntary bankruptcy petition against their debtor as a way to compel the payment of a debt. But as a recent Second Circuit affirmation in the TPG Troy LLC case shows, the involuntary bankruptcy petition is not just another collection device, says Michael Cook of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP.